A Beauty Compass

~ Vacation: All I Ever Wanted... ~Hi Beautiful (: We have had a BUSY last two weeks at True North! From Tall Timber Days to tourists passing through and sadly with summer winding down, the appointments for school and the impending fall season have kept us on our toes! That is why I am So ready for a little R&R that starts early tomorrow morning - I'm loading up the kids and the kitchen sink to head up to Marcell, MN on Gorgeous Turtle Lake! I'm excited to spend some much needed time with my husband and our four babes; and to, hopefully, get a little Sun + vitamin D!! I've been missing out with working this summer :/ Oh, and I plan on Eating really good food too - livin' life on the edge for a week, Woo-hooo!!! As for beauty, especially when you are out in the sun, you really should protect your hair with a sunscreen or leave in conditioner a la Aveda's Hair Veil - it will protect your hair from getting scorched, the salt or minerals in the water, chlorine (if you'll be in a pool) and your color!! During the day and (this should be a no brainer): sun screen of at least spf 30 with broad spectrum and a Hat!! Nothing makes you age faster than the sun and with the rise of skin cancer you seriously need to protect yourself (even in MN!!) Other essentials to bring along, especially if you're going all out rustic with no running water (and for that I applaud you but don't want to be you): dry shampoo - (our faves are Redken and Tigi), I love plain old baby powder - you can use it as deodorant too (; . A tinted moisturizer, Aveda has the best one I have ever used that makes your skin movie star dewy looking with an spf of 15 - Love! Make up remover wipes (even if you don't wear makeup you can wash your face with these especially essential if you don't have running water :P), coconut oil because it is Super good for your skin and has a spf of 7! After you apply your 50+ sunscreen slather the oil on top, you could put some in your hair too for extra moisture and on your lips -( need to protect those too!!), lots of hair ties, which we have at True North called 'knotties' that do not leave an indentation in your style! After that the rest is up to you - bring a tooth brush (or don't), bring a hair brush (or don't), bring a razor or...scare people on the beach but who really cares?! It's your vacation!! When it's all over, put a really rich conditioner on your hair for at least 10 minutes - and wouldn't you know, Aveda has one too (; After Sun Hair Masque with morikue protein and coconut oil - it smells Amazing and makes your hair feel like it can go through anything even another MN winter (maybe)! This blog is a little short and sweet because I have to go get some groceries soon, clean my house, pack, and lose my mind in the process (; So even if you already went on your summer vacation or are staying right in GR - enjoy these last summer days and cherish the time with your loved ones because God gives us what we need not what we want sometimes - I always Wanted to live somewhere warm, somewhere exciting, somewhere else but ended up staying here and... it's perfect and what I ultimately Needed (:Stay Beautiful! OX